Jackie Yeager

Jackie Yeager is a middle grade author living in Rochester, NY with her real life prince charming and two royally amazing teens. When she’s not writing or living in her own fairy tale world, (dreaming of castles, tiaras, and ball gowns), she spends her time cheering for the crew at marathons and triathlons, track and cross country meets, and hockey games. Yeah, she does a lot of cheering!

She holds a BA degree in Psychology and a MS degree in Education from Nazareth College. She has worked as a retail service manager, corporate sales trainer, elementary school reading teacher, ghostwriter, and stay-at-home mom. She also spent seven years coaching Odyssey of the Mind, an international creative problem solving competition for kids, where her teams made several trips to the New York State Finals and once upon a time even competed at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals.

One of Jackie’s childhood pastimes was writing plays for her siblings and neighborhood friends, but she never dreamed that becoming a children’s author was in her future. It wasn’t until she was inspired by the middle school antics of her daughter and her friends, that she wrote her first middle grade manuscript. That story was the spark she needed to write future stories and eventually find her writing voice. She now writes middle grade fiction that answers the question, “What if?” and encourages kids to Think more. Work hard. Dream Big.

Jackie’s debut middle grade novel, Spin the Golden Light Bulb, the first of The Crimson Five series, was published January 9. 2018. It’s a story of futuristic magical realism which follows the journey of five eleven-year old kids on a competitive adventure almost too good to be true. It was inspired by her son’s Odyssey of the Mind team, and their ability to be curious, be creative, be collaborative, be colorful, and be courageous—the central themes of the story.